Maybe this is just my algorithm, but I just can’t escape Nathan and Sons Underbrush Remineralizing Gum on Instagram. In case your feed isn’t absolutely inundated with Underbrush content like mine, Underbrush is a chewing gum brand that uses natural botanicals rather than the, well, plastic that is commonly used as a...

Woo-woo incense description generator # Whether they are spiritually inclined or mere earth-bound fragrance-heads, all sorts of people are attracted to the fragrant world of incense. It’s no surprise, then, that the language people use to describe the incense they make can get pretty colorful. If you’ve ever wished...

I found this questionnaire on the website of my Geekring neighbor Corvidae. Original questions sheet on mousling.net. Please introduce yourself. # I’m Nathan. I live in Chicago, U.S.A., and have far too many interests. I play classical trombone for fun, make incense sticks, write things, cook vegan food, and more....

Whether discussing wine, spirits, perfumes, or incense, there is much back and forth on the subject of quality. On the one hand, there are the connoisseurs flashing their three-plus digit purchases on enthusiast forums, and on the other, there are the humble, salt-of-the-earth naysayers gleefully reminding them of...

During a Black Friday sale, I bought some cultivated agarwood “chips” [1] from Crassna Khmer. They are pleasant on the heater, and show some pretty good resination on one side. Some skins from Crassna Khmer that have been broken down to fit into a small jar. I was curious to see how the pulverized skins would...

Christmas time # Sol sneakily decorated the apartment while I was busy earlier in the month, with two wreaths they made a year or two ago with parts from a trip to Michaels, and some paper chains we made last year (?) out of cardstock printed with plaid patterns and gold foil. They also left some of those tiny fake...

Flora Botanical Incense is the brainchild of Alyssa Severeid, who is also behind the Incense Explorer podcast[1]. I’d been keen to try her sticks for some time, but I admit the price tag kept me at bay until a recent sale. Not long after ordering I was delighted to receive a rather pretty compostable mailer along...

These sticks appear to be made of a masala hand-rolled on a bamboo splint with a light dusting of wood powder. In the burn there is a prominent sandalwood fragrance that strikes me as very natural; it has that sort of mineral and/or metallic top-note that you find when putting exceptionally oily sandalwood chips on...

These sticks appear to be made of masala hand-rolled onto a rather thick bamboo splint. The scent on the stick is fairly muted for an Indian-style stick. This usually indicates more of a reliance on whole-botanicals rather than oils and other concentrates. In the burn, the benzoin is very prominent, revealing a bit...

Not much of tremendous interest has been going on lately; I took the week off because I forget to take time during the year, and thanksgiving is as good excuse as any to cram in some PTO at the end of the year. I’ve also been taking Fridays off lately. Sol and I had planned to spend thanksgiving day with their...

For my younger readers: much new music is mixed in such a way that it sounds good on tinny (and tiny) smartphone speakers, often at the expense of sound quality on better audio systems. The songs below are not. If you can, please listen to these song snippets through a good pair of wired headphones, earphones, or...

I occasionally talk to people facing what I can best describe as job paranoia—the fear that their boss is out to get them, see them fired, et cetera. If you’re someone who occasionally feels like this, as someone who has both hired and fired people, I’m here to offer some reassurance. Before we proceed—and I know...